Sustainable UX design Approach

Currently, the world is facing various challenges related to the environment, economics, and sociology. To make our lives better, we must adopt sustainable design solutions that do not adversely affect our neighbors or ecosystem. To move forward, designers play a crucial role. In this article, we examine sustainable design tools, resources, and best practices. In addition, we explore how to create physical objects, buildings, and services that comply with social, economic, ecological, and design principles.

Sustainability in user experience design is an interesting and serious subject that I have been encouraged to think twice about. The more I learn about it, the more convinced I am that it is critically important.

In the interest of sustainability, I wish to share with you what, in my opinion, is significant to this topic. Despite my passion for usability, I’ll concentrate on the UX side of things.

Objectives

1. What is Sustainability?

Sustainability: “The production of goods and services without using any resources that cannot be replaced and without damaging the environment.”; “The ability to continue at a high level for an extended period of time.”

2. What is Design?

Design: “The ability of people to show their creativity in deciding the shape of an object, whether physical or virtual. It user-centered”.

3. What is sustainability UX?

UX and ethics go hand in hand when it comes to findability. In addition to the environment, the users enjoy a smooth and efficient experience. UX design that is sustainable means making content accessible through a minimal number of page loads.

“Sustainability meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Sustainable UX is an approach where we look at the long-term implications of our design decisions. I defined five key areas where sustainability can make a positive impact on the design and product or service delivery process:

1. Meet the needs of the users;
2. Focus on durability and efficiency;
3. Follow inclusive design principles to reach a wider audience;
4. Maintain a clear structure and purpose.
5. It’s time to take the challenge and work towards better, universal, and transparent digital services.

4. Sustainable development goals

When we think about the users’ needs, we need to know what the primary focus of our digital service is and what problem it is trying to solve.

To achieve a sustainable user experience, the content strategy needs to be a priority. It requires less energy to serve the site if people have fewer pages to load, so they load faster, and fewer pages mean fewer requests on the servers. Finding our service using search engines affects the environment and leaves a carbon footprint, and affects how satisfied users are.

When we consider the needs and expectations of all possible user models, we reduce the support and maintenance of the project in the future. It is essential to conduct user research when designing a digital service for users.

Designing for humans is like designing for a set of stages that humans go through when they change their behavior. There are always the same stages, but each individual will experience them in a unique way and at a different pace.

5. Changing behavior through design

1. Create simple, new digital tools to provide feedback.
2. Invent for the future consumer, not the present customer.
3. Be patient with monitoring “success.”
4. Organizing our thinking about who we’re designing for
5. Adopting a more rounded view of the challenges ahead
6. Ultimately getting on the right path to implementing effective solutions

Ethical design is gaining traction. Design advocates insist that design be fully inclusive, that it faces up to its lack of diversity, and that it does not support the worst of public abuses. Sustainability should also be considered in that discussion. We have to consider sustainability several aspects when designing for a better tomorrow, humanity, and a safe future.